Jackson Carey Frank (Buffalo, New York, March 2, 1943 – Great Barrington, M… Read Full Bio ↴Jackson Carey Frank (Buffalo, New York, March 2, 1943 – Great Barrington, Massachusetts, March 3, 1999) was an American folk singer-songwriter and guitarist. Although he released only one official album in his lifetime and never achieved much commercial success, he is reported to have influenced several better-known singer-songwriters such as Paul Simon and Nick Drake.

When Jackson Frank was eleven years old, a furnace exploded at his school, sending a ball of flames down corridors until it ended up in Frank's music classroom in the Cleveland Hill Elementary School in Cheektowaga, New York. The fire killed fifteen of his fellow students and burned Frank over more than half his body.[1] It was during his time in the hospital that he was first introduced to playing music, when a teacher, Charlie Castelli, brought in an acoustic guitar to keep Frank occupied during his recovery. When he was 21, he was awarded an insurance cheque of $110,500 for his injuries, giving him enough to "catch a boat to England."

His eponymous 1965 album, Jackson C. Frank, was produced by Paul Simon while the two of them were also playing folk clubs in England. Frank was so shy during the recording that he asked to be shielded by screens so that Paul Simon, Art Garfunkel, and Al Stewart (who also attended the recording) could not see him, claiming "I can't play. You're looking at me." The most famous track, "Blues Run the Game", was covered by Simon and Garfunkel, and later by Wizz Jones, Counting Crows, Colin Meloy, Bert Jansch, Laura Marling, and Robin Pecknold (White Antelope), while Nick Drake also recorded it privately. Another song, "Milk and Honey", appeared in Vincent Gallo's film The Brown Bunny, and was also covered by Fairport Convention, Nick Drake, and Sandy Denny, whom he dated for a while. During their relationship, Jackson convinced Sandy to give up nursing (then her profession) and concentrate on music full-time.

Although Frank was well received in England for a while, in 1966 things took a turn for the worse as his mental health began to unravel. At the same time he began to experience writer's block. His insurance payment was running out so he decided to go back to the United States for two years. When he returned to England in 1968 he was deemed a different person. His depression, stemming from the childhood trauma of the classroom fire, had increased and he had no self-confidence. Al Stewart recalled that: "He [Frank] proceeded to fall apart before our very eyes. His style that everyone loved was melancholy, very tuneful things. He started doing things that were completely impenetrable. They were basically about psychological angst, played at full volume with lots of thrashing. I don't remember a single word of them, it just did not work. There was one review that said he belonged on a psychologist's couch. Then shortly after that, he hightailed it back to Woodstock again, because he wasn't getting any work."

While in Woodstock, he married Elaine Sedgwick, an English former fashion model. They had a son and later a daughter, Angeline. After his son died of Cystic Fibrosis, Frank went into a period of great depression and was ultimately committed to an institution. By the early 1970s Frank began to beg aid from friends. Karl Dallas wrote an enthusiastic piece in 1975 in Melody Maker, and in 1978, his 1965 album was re-released as Jackson Frank Again, with a new cover sleeve, although this did not encourage fresh awareness of Frank.

In 1984, Frank took a trip to New York City in a desperate bid to locate Paul Simon, but he ended up sleeping on the sidewalk. His mother, who had been in hospital for open heart surgery, found him gone with no forwarding address when she arrived home. He was living on the street and was frequently admitted and discharged from various institutions. He was treated for paranoid schizophrenia, a diagnosis that was refuted by Frank himself as he had always claimed that he actually had depression caused by the trauma he had experienced as a child.

Just as Frank’s prospects seemed to be at their worst, a fan from the area around Woodstock, Jim Abbott, discovered him in the early 1990s. Abbott had been discussing music with Mark Anderson, a teacher at the local college he was attending. The conversation had turned to folk music, which they both enjoyed, when Abbott asked the teacher if he had heard of Frank. He recollected: "I hadn’t even thought about it for a couple of years, and he goes, ‘Well yes, as a matter of fact, I just got a letter from him. Do you feel like helping a down-on-his-luck folk singer?"

Frank, who had known Anderson from their days at Gettysburg College, had decided to write him to ask if there was anywhere in Woodstock he could stay after he had made up his mind to leave New York City. Abbott phoned Frank, and then organized a temporary placement for him at a senior citizens’ home in Woodstock. Abbott was stunned by what he saw when he travelled to New York to visit Frank.

"When I went down I hadn’t seen a picture of him, except for his album cover. Then, he was thin and young. When I went to see him, there was this heavy guy hobbling down the street, and I thought, ‘That can’t possibly be him’...I just stopped and said ‘Jackson?’ and it was him. My impression was, ‘Oh my God’, it was almost like the elephant man or something. He was so unkempt, dishevelled.” A further side effect of the fire was a thyroid malfunction causing him to put on weight. “He had nothing. It was really sad. We went and had lunch and went back to his room. It almost made me cry, because here was a fifty-year-old man, and all he had to his name was a beat-up old suitcase and a broken pair of glasses. I guess his caseworker had given him a $10 guitar, but it wouldn’t stay in tune. It was one of those hot summer days. He tried to play Blues Run The Game for me, but his voice was pretty much shot."

Soon after this, Frank was sitting on a bench in Queens, New York while awaiting a move to Woodstock, when someone shot him in his left eye and consequently blinded him. At first no details were known, but it was later determined that children from the neighborhood were firing a pellet gun indiscriminately at people and Frank happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Abbott then promptly helped him move to Woodstock. During this time, Frank began recording some demos of new songs. Frank’s resurfacing led to the first CD release of his self-titled album. In some pressings, Frank's later songs were included as a bonus disc with the album.

Frank died of pneumonia and cardiac arrest in Great Barrington, Massachusetts on March 3, 1999, at the age of 56.

Though he never achieved fame during his lifetime, his songs have been covered by many well-known artists, including Simon and Garfunkel, Counting Crows, Nick Drake, Sandy Denny, Bert Jansch, Laura Marling, and Robin Pecknold (as White Antelope) of Fleet Foxes. Frank's song "I Want To Be Alone", also known as "Dialogue," appeared on the soundtrack for the film Daft Punk's Electroma. Soulsavers covered "Blues Run the Game" on their single "Revival" (7" vinyl, 30 April 2007). Marianne Faithfull covered Frank's arrangement of a traditional song, "Kimbie" on her 2008 album Easy Come, Easy Go and included the song in the repertoire of her 2009 tour. Erland & The Carnival also covered "My Name Is Carnival," apparently Frank's favourite song. Bert Jansch also covered this song as a gesture to Frank.

Sandy Denny's song, "Next Time Around," contains coded references to Frank, her ex-boyfriend. "Marcy's Song" is played by Patrick, John Hawkes' character, in the 2011 film Martha Marcy May Marlene and "Marlene" plays in the closing credits. Laura Barton's BBC Radio 4 programme "Blues Run the Game", first broadcast 20th November 2012, included interviews with Al Stewart, John Renbourn, Jim Abbott and John Kay as well as archive material of Jackson C. Frank talking and singing.

Cryin' Like a Baby
Jackson C. Frank Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Crying like a baby
In my momma's arms
The day they came to tell me
You were gone

What have you done to me
You did not do before
I had you standing right next to me

On the floor

Well, we sang in the same places
We were a double-draw
And the folks came to see us
Had it all

But they took you to some stony place
And they broke your double-jaw
Now the pieces of its ivory
Line the wall

With cold iron in the fireplace
And pictures on the wall
Well I guess it's a-dying peacefully, so far
Yes, I guess it's dying peacefully, so far

Crying like a baby
In my momma's arms
The day they came to tell me
You were gone

You were gone
You were gone

Overall Meaning

The opening lines of the song “Crying like a baby, in my momma’s arms” signify how vulnerable the singer is feeling. It suggests that the singer is seeking comfort in the arms of his mother after receiving the news of his loved one's death. The pain and sorrow that the singer is feeling is evident in the way he is crying. The second line of the song, “The day they came to tell me you were gone,” is a significant moment of change in the singer’s life. The news of his loved one's death has come as a massive shock to him, and he is struggling to come to terms with his loss.

In the second verse, the singer questions what his loved one has done to him that he hadn’t done before. The reference to “standing right next to me, on the floor” suggests a closeness between the two that has been broken. It is possible that the singer and his loved one were musicians working together, as the line “we sang in the same places, we were a double-draw” suggests they were popular and well-known performers. The line “they took you to some stony place and they broke your double-jaw” implies that they were attacked and disfigured, causing them to lose their ability to perform. The reference to “pieces of its ivory, line the wall” suggest that their musical instruments were also damaged, or possibly even destroyed.

The final verse suggests that the singer is aware of his loved one's peaceful passing. It may be that they had been suffering before their death, and the singer takes comfort in knowing that they are no longer in pain. The repetition of “you were gone” emphasises the finality of the loss that the singer has experienced. The fact that he is crying in his mother’s arms emphasises his vulnerability and the need for the comfort of others during this difficult time.

Line by Line Meaning

Crying like a baby
I am uncontrollably weeping and feeling helpless

In my momma's arms
I am seeking comfort and solace from the person who has always been there for me

The day they came to tell me
The moment when I first found out the news was life-changing and devastating

You were gone
You left this world and I am left to deal with the emptiness you left behind

What have you done to me
You have caused me a great deal of pain and suffering

You did not do before
I didn't think you were capable of causing me this much hurt and sadness

I had you standing right next to me
We were close and I never imagined losing you

On the floor
Performing together, sharing a passion for music

Well, we sang in the same places
We traveled and performed at the same venues and locations

We were a double-draw
Together, we were a popular and successful duo act

And the folks came to see us
Our fans and supporters came to watch us perform and enjoy our music

Had it all
We had everything we ever wanted, including success, recognition, and each other

But they took you to some stony place
You were taken away to a place that was violent, cold, and unforgiving

And they broke your double-jaw
You were physically attacked and injured so badly that your jaw was broken

Now the pieces of its ivory
The remains of your shattered jawbone are now scattered on the ground

Line the wall
The sight of your bloody, broken jawbone is now etched into my memory forever

With cold iron in the fireplace
The surroundings are dark, eerie, and unwelcoming

And pictures on the wall
The memories of you, in the form of pictures, are hanging on the wall, serving as a painful reminder of what I have lost

Well I guess it's a-dying peacefully, so far
I suppose that despite the violence and suffering you experienced, you are now in a peaceful, painless state of being

Yes, I guess it's dying peacefully, so far
I hope that wherever you are now, you are finally at peace and free from pain and suffering

You were gone
I am still grieving for you, even though you are no longer here

You were gone
You have left a hole in my life that cannot be filled by anything else

You were gone
I will never forget you, and the impact you had on my life

Contributed by Ava N. Suggest a correction in the comments below.

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